Saturday, February 15, 2025

my creative week including embroidery, sewing piecework, and a painting

 

still trying to live a creative life, and this is a mention of this week's work... glad you're here! 

the pic above is my latest finished embroidery. I learned to make tassel flowers, very wild and 3-d

more about the embroidery in a minute, but first my stay at home round robin nest row was slice into a block and insert a new fabric. It was a hard pain week so I took it easy on the creative front. I did a sliced insert in an X thinking it would look like a trellis... well.... 

it's too many lines too close for me but maybe this sewn row will fit in later?? 
I used one of my Mary Englebreit prints
I made some blocks to try them out using my blue floral scraps (Kim are you listening?) (she inspired me with her flower pics at https://sarahlizzies.blogspot.com/
I like it! Imagine it with lots more floral fabrics! 



I inserted a pretty iris scrap in the center, and tried out some borders 
and it's okay but what about this larger scrap? 
this one just needs a pretty pink floral border I think. (It's easier to work small right now)

back to my latest embroidery (a kit from Buscilla gifted to me from DH
I re-learned how to do a woven flower, filled lazy daisy stitch, 
I blended two shades to grade the ombre colored purple stem on the right
top-- light purple 3 strands, next two light one dark purple strand, next two dark purple and one lt purple strand, then 3 dark purple strands. 

tried to put my initials on bottom but it' a blur
I finally got out paints and a brush to make DH (Mon Mari) a V-day card... 
simple but says it all

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Thursday, February 13, 2025

I Like Thursday # 439 food is love, quilts are love, music is love

 

welcome to this week's list of likes.... starting with another V-day quilt, this one is hanging on our upstairs rail

another one is on my Family room glass table

it is made with valentine fabrics from my collection/stash

I love Valentines day, the focus on love the way it should be. Connections not divisions, acceptance not judgement. Here is a lovely song


another song, from Kiss me Kate, I was  in the chorus in a production of this play, a singer/dancer and loved this song. It's not an easy one for my alto voice but I find myself singing it often


I love being in my small studio space making things, and I like the things finished! (not everyone likes to finish things for some reason) This week I finished the project quilting prompted piece

my socks are finished

my latest embroidery nearly finished  using two techniques I've had to relearn, Learning is good

 

big fluffy flakes that drift down un like the usual sideways snow!!

 Snow

there's not much and it often melts with the first (high desert) sun but we've had several overnight snows this week. It's cold, 1 deg F when we went to bed. I like cold, I like wearing layers and sweaters unlike other people around us in Colorado who wear winter shorts all the time.  I have LOVED my cozy leggings by cuddle duds like I'm wrapped up in the softest blankie. 

they say soft things are soothing when you're anxious. I think it's true and why babies pet their blankies. 

when I was a child we had blankets with satin bindings, and I remember rubbing that satin at night.

Fine dining

 I feel  rich, we have fresh grapes that are sweet and juicy, fresh cherries, and fresh citrus that also is juicy not dried out!

we tried a gluten free puff pastry (it's what the store had) to make caramelized onion appetizers but it's a fail. 


we got a new coffee maker


and so far we like the taste of our coffee just in time for it to skyrocket in price because of our new regime's tariffs. The idea is the water must be really hot to truly make a good cup of coffee. I like it strong with a good amount of milk. It's good to really feel awake again!

we did something we don't usually do, we bought collard greens and cooked them. We only do that at new years usually. We LOVE them with some pepper vinegar so why not all year?

I read somewhere that spinach helps you regrow hair, and I lost a lot with that virus that sapped me.

just because

I've been visiting Karen for years, and she always provides so much cozy beauty in her cottage. This post is full of love, red, hearts, heartwarming pictures... go see

https://beatriceeuphemievintagecottagestyle.blogspot.com/ 

On Speaking French

I'm working my way thru Transparent languages offered through our library. 

Je suis perdu  ( I am lost) I also get their Italian word a day notices because I really want to speak Italian but we are considering a move to France first. 


liked this


our prompt: What is something you have always wanted to try but haven’t yet?

well there is being fluent in another language. I'm trying,  actively trying to learn French (oh why don't they just pronounce all the letters? )  while keeping up with a word a day in Italian. 

I'd like to return to some crafts like rug hooking with wool strips. I'd like to write a novel and started one but my pain stops concentration. I want to do some screen printing with my kit, and learn bead loom weaving.

 I'd like to have a farm with miniature donkeys, miniature goats, miniature cows and a standard poodle.

I'd love to stop my medical phobias but that's just practical not a desire really


Milo's memories

from Feb 2019  Milo was stylish... he knew if he got a kerchief, we would be going somewhere!

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Saturday, February 8, 2025

my creative week Project quilting and stay at home round robin

 


7" X 10" 

this is my entry for Project Quilting this week, the prompt was to take three traditional blocks in the common usage and make a finished quilt. I took out my scrap bags of Cherrywood hand dyes to use thinking I'd make a sketchbook cover. My bags have strips from  a half inch wide to 2" wide. 

I made a sawtooth star, put a log cabin around it (taking into consideration two values on each row) and made my improv flying geese for the top and bottom. I loved it and thought of all the things I could make with these fabrics if I had larger pieces so...

 I went looking for cherrywood fabrics to purchase online. As it happens I dropped down a rabbit hole into lovely stitching resources including this cool store... so much to want, so many options for hand stitching including embroidery, beading, machine work... go see! this is the sale page, whee!

https://hobbyhouseneedleworks.com/collections/sale-items-1 

I did a tiny binding and thought it dulled it down so I then added a couched chenille multicolor ribbon on top
I have had this a long time, and it always brightens up a quilt! It's good to have a big stash of stuff. 



I use a couching foot that keeps the yarn or trim in the center while you zigzag over it
I originally thought I'd cover this journal
as you can see, it's too large now. Also I am not sure how to have just a front cover stay on but after I finished I started new components to use in one that will fit.
for now I put them back in the scrap bin but it's easier to start something once you are moving than from a stop, right? I can see hand embroidery on this cover, maybe some vine. For now I am happy with how this came out in less than a week.

I learned the smaller a quilt, the more effort needed to keep it straight and to quilt it. 

Now for the stay at home round robin... the prompt this week is "stars" 
I was conflicted as I like the quilt at the pinwheel stage! How to keep going? a narrow plain border maybe, and put some really little stars in the corners. 

again the smaller the block, the more effort it takes to piece. I remembered taking a miniature piecing class back East with Sally Collins. She said to me, try moving your needle over one thread in the fabric. 
Sally! I couldn't see one thread over! 
But paper piecing tiny blocks is more fun for me so I got out my stash of star papers, and so as to not use them up, I copied them onto thin paper meant for just this. I pieced 4 sawtooth stars that finish at 
2 inches
so they took all afternoon
get prepared I say

here they are in corners, and maybe I'll put 2" white coping strips on, but I better wait til I see next prompt's blocks.... it's not an enormous piece so I want it to be cohesive. I think the white might be a place to stop the action of the center. And, some fancy quilting white on white might be pretty... feathers? 
whew, that took longer than it looks! Of course I used a variety of scraps to make each one but they look alike from a distance. 

I worked on my embroidery project this week


and am finishing the hand knitted socks, not a great photo but they are such pretty colors



one of my Valentine quilts (I've made one a year since we married) is this small one, painted on white fabric, the green leaf is stuffed and 3-D also painted fabric 

linking with: 



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Thursday, February 6, 2025

I Like Thursday # 438 valentines, everyday cooking, French, and a question

 

Time for an I Like list for this week, starting with one of my older Valentine quilts. About 50" square. 

I like this one so much. It is watercolor style meaning all squares were cut 2" and light to dark they create the lines. I did raw edge applique flowers and turned edge vines. I love the inset turquoise border with the tiny multi color trim couched next to it, and the thick binding of the same ombre border fabric. 

Heart quilting lines done repeating every half inch.

It is hanging in our family room for February, on a curtain rod with spirals

Still listening to and reading the same books as last week, just finishing the toe of my second sock. 

I did a bit of cooking ... don't enjoy cooking but do like to eat. 

Fine Dining


 one day we made BLT mac and cheese for lunch and it was so good. This was a new combo and I like diversity even in food choice! 

we use the box mix plus some extra cheese,  served on a bed of lettuce tomato (turkey)bacon

Let's play crime scene kitchen... what do you think I made with these?

carrots, raisins, ginger, apple

My carrot salad

My carrot salad

grate carrots (this time a mix of orange and yellow ones)

mayo

cinnamon, dash of salt

grated fresh ginger and grated orange peel ( I zest all oranges and keep grated peel in freezer bags)

golden raisins half an apple in tiny mince

maple syrup to taste

dash of cider vinegar or lemon juice

 

warm greek potato salad 
Greek potato salad

boiled potatoes, minced red onion and crisp bell peppers, oregano S&P, lemon juice, mayo

Pizza

half left for tomorrow's lunch
this time we allowed the dough to sit overnight in the fridge which highly improved texture and taste
(artichokes, turkey pepperoni,mushrooms, onion slivers mix of italian cheeses

Sweet and Sour orange sauce 

my recipe
I sub for soy sauce and corn starch

aminoo arrowroot, and use fresh ginger and orange zest

I am working on two challenges for the week's quilt making. More on Saturday's post

I am LOVING my little stash of cherrywood hand dyes so much I ordered fat quarter bundles here: 

https://hobbyhouseneedleworks.com/collections/bead-kits

they not only have those fabrics, they have EVERYTHING to hand stitch with I also got a kit of an artist palette in beads, some floss, some beads. 

I'm still getting word a day in Italian but now systematically learning French again, this time through our library and " transparent languages". It's challenging French, but the hardest for me is writing it with all the accent marks. Sheesh. I'll manage as long as native French speakers speak S L O W L Y. 

Prompt

What’s one of the most exciting things you’ve done in life so far?

My answers involve travel.  Growing up in central Florida, where it takes almost a day driving to escape the state, I had a need to go see and do. My parents saw this as a character flaw. 

I met and fell for a Canadian man who asked me to move there to see if we might truly belong together. I put my career on hold, and moved to Edmonton. It involved a cross country road trip with a girlfriend, where we saw and did along the way. She left me there and flew home, and my Canadian adventure started. After a while we decided I should exit the country and apply for a work visa which I did. I became a nanny there for a bit over a year and left when I contracted meningitis and needed a longer recovery period. We never married but it was a grand adventure. 

After I went back to Florida to recover my strength, my friend was living in Germany working as an USA army nurse, and I took a few weeks to visit her there. Traveling alone  with a Eurail pass, with a rudimentary knowledge of German and French, I got on a train every day, got off and found a room and explored many places. I had adventures. I met people also traveling around Europe from distant places. I realized it was nice to set my own itinerary but lonely with noone to chat to at end of day. 

I asked my husband this prompt and he said meeting me and marrying was the most exciting thing to him. He also found learning to do scuba diving and diving in exotic locales exciting. When I met him he was flying with the Hurricane Hunters (NOAH) out of Tampa, and I found that terrifying and exciting myself. 

Watching online 

 so touching such love is a balm to my heart

https://youtube.com/shorts/CAHvj84EbN4?si=BjAJE8R-8dFscgMx

Milo's Memories

my puppy visiting Conn. with us. He loved travel too... 


he loved ripping up old magazines. Here he looks guilty but that sound was so satisfying and fun for him. To the end, he liked ripping paper and the last thing he tore up was the paper towel tube. 

How I loved his spirit

Please visit thses folks to read about their week, and let me know if you wrote a post to add in

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